Peace

Happy

 New

Year.

 Wishing you  Peace, Good health, happiness, and all you wish for in 2012.

...and hopefully some time spent in the garden.

Thanks for stopping by at Serenity Nursery's Blog this year.

Stayed tuned in 2012!!

Today

Wishing I had time off to do the things I love.



Ho Ho Ohh!

It's time for me to go.

Christmas Eve tomorrow.

Hope to see you at the nursery for a last minute "Unique" gift idea.

Merry Christmas.

xx

A note of advice...

Water wise Tip #1

The Best of Christmas...

Watching a movie with a Christmas theme to get you in the mode.

 Giving to those in need and to your loved ones.

 Putting up Christmas lights and decorating the garden ready for guests.

Buying or making special decorations for your Christmas tree

Christmas Partys and catching up with family and friends.

Baking yummy treats. Ginger bread buscuits are always our family favourite.

Leaving Milk and Cookies out for Santa and being too excited to sleep.

Putting up the Christmas tree and seeing the lights go on for the first time.

...and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Well, I finally got my Christmas Tree up. It's not a traditional tree, in fact it took me just a few minutes to put together. I bought two really large glass bottles from a garage sale a while back, just because I liked them. So one one them has been used to hold a big olive tree branch that i cut from the tree in my back yard...

 We have so many divine Christmas decorations in our gift shop at the moment  and I choose these cute feather birds to sit in the tree.

I have been personalising a few gifts with an alphabet stamp set. Brown craft paper looks great with a crisp white bow.



Pine Cones that I found in the neighbourhood add a festive touch.

My timber table has adjustable drop down sides, well I pulled them up and placed gifts underneath..perfect.

Enjoy your Christmas Preparations

Krystal

xx



It's all about Teak at serenity Nursery

 A new shipment of unique garden art has arrived into the nursery. I adore these over sized teak ball sculptures- They remind me of something Brendon Moore would put in his garden designs.

Our teak comes from a sustainable source and is ideal for outdoor use. The dove cotes are available in white too.

As you drive in to the garden centre you will be greeted by Life-size horses made from teak wood chips. 

Classy planter boxes. Ideal for a front entrance.

Quirky mushroom sculptures to add a touch of fantasy to your garden.

Deck the Halls

...Just a little inspiration for decorating your house this Christmas.

 Have you popped into Serenity Nursery and seen all of our divine Christmas decorations?

This year the gift shop looks like a winter wonder land with white cane stars, glistening decorative birds, cute cut out angels and so much more.

See you in the nursery soon.

Krystal

xx

This weekend C.I.Y Projects

C.I. Y ( Create it Yourself) Project 1-

 Find an old bike in a junk shop or garage sale and plant the basket up with cascading petunias and small cottage plants.Use a coconut fibre liner to help hold soil and moisture. Sit the bike in the garden, for a touch of quirkiness.

C.I Y project 2- Do you have any old boots laying around?
 Maybe some old Dr. Martins?
 Fill them up with a quality potting mix and plant succulents or nasturtiums in them.
 The more weathered and aged the boots get, the better they look.

Images via Only Cutes

Climbing Spinach

Come in store and grab yourself some climbing spinach. This unusual spinach is a perennial making an ideal vegetable to have on standby  for when your regular spinach goe to seed.

Climbing Spinach is yummy in Stir frys, stews and salads.

Ornamental Pear Tree

 My newly planted Pyrus ussuriensis ( Manchurian Pear)

 The Tree 3 years on surrounded by perennials

Pyrus ussuriensis, or Manchurian Pear  are deciduous Trees that form a large shade canope through the warmer months. It is the perfect tree to shade a hot area and will drop its leaves in winter to let much needed light into your house and garden. I have positioned one in my garden in the far right ( pictured here) , it's a lovely specimen.  Manchurian Pears will tolerate a  hot sunny spot and they are available in many forms including the popular upright form "Capital", which are ideal for drive ways and used extensively as Street trees in the Murray Bridge area.

Image via absolutely beautiful things

My Summer Garden

 I was absolutely thrilled when I spotted my first frangipani flower this season. My two established plants didn't flower last year after a funny season with the weather.

 Succulents are easy to grow and have maximum effect in the garden with bold colours and forms. I have this dark purple one planted in Serenity's rust urns.

My Lantana plant grows like mad and needs a good trim back every so often to keep it controlled.

Tomato plants are planted in half kegs, provincial urns and any where there is room and enough sunlight.

One of the super cute pigs that I picked up at the nursery. This one was looking up at me saying "take me home" now I have three pigs.

Pretty white cottage

Box hedge, topiary and lush lawns surrounding a super cute white cottage. I die.

Image via Absolutely Beautiful Things

My experience with transplanting

Today I removed four buxus microphylla faulkner hedges  from my planter box. I have a  box hedge planted at the front of my cottage, bordering the paths and needed some more to finish the job. The box hedge in the planter box was becoming pot bound and the four plants came out together when I pulled them up. I then used a pruning saw to separate each one.

Once the box plants were separated I pruned the roots down to a more manageable size to re-plant. I used Plants Plus Groganic  ( An organic compost) to help improve the soil structure.

Once they were all planted I watered them in well with SeaGold Liquid kelp, a health tonic which distresses transplanted plants.

The Buxus Faulkner lines the pathways. This variety is particularly hardy to cold and heat and performs better then an English box. The buxus faulkner is available now in a variety of different sized pots.

Serenity Nursery Top Tip: Use a lawn fertiliser such us Neutrogs Sudden Impact for Lawns on leafy hedges like Buxus Faulkner or English box. It is organic based and high in nitrogen to help promote lots of leafy growth. It's a great product for lawns and all non-flowering plants.

Pictured here ( along the back) is my much loved Escallonia Iveyi hedge. I love it, It's an old fashioned plant but it has really dark green glossy leaves and stark white flowers through Spring and Summer. It is really hardy and will grow in full sun and coastal conditions. They can grow up to 3 meters, but at this stage I like to keep it about a meter tall. I give mine a really good drink of SeaGold Liguid kelp through prolonged summer heat waves.

Yes to Country Gardens

 I want a chook pen like this, it's a bit fancy. It looks so pretty surrounded by  roses and a cottage garden.

This is just perfect.

A driveway lined with London Plane trees, yes please.